Object Label Kawase Hasui
Japanese, 1883–1957
A Farmhouse in Autumn, Ayashi, Miyagi Prefecture, 1946
Color woodblock print on laid paper
The bounty of the harvest fills this farmhouse courtyard, including piles of rice and a string of long, white radishes. Rows of persimmons hang to dry on the far left, a traditional process used to bring out the sweetness in this naturally tart fruit. The dried persimmons, called hoshigaki, are a popular Japanese delicacy. Notice how Kawase Hasui rendered the old-fashioned architecture of this mountain village in precise one-point perspective, a distinctive aspect of Western art embraced by Shin-Hanga artists.
Gift of Momotarō Yanagida, Mayor of Moji, Japan, sister city of Norfolk 61.72.10